I think the easy way of cleaning them " atleast for me " is to put a wire wheel on a bench grinder . works real good on paint and rust, if there caked with grease i'll hit em with some brake cleaner the go to the wirewheel. 9 times outta 10 they come out loking brand new b4 i go to paint them I'll put them in a jar of mineral spirits for a few minutes and slosh them around and wipe them off and there ready to go.

The only thing that is bad about replacing nuts and bolts is with the Massey's the bolt heads have MF on them, so if you are trying to do a perfect restore you gotta keep some of them. I am not partial though to doing a perfect restore as I would rather have new hardware. Especially stainless hardware LOL.

Maybe you could use a steel colander from your wifes kitchen. They are round and bowl shaped, if you wanted to, you can reshape them.

Just a word of caution: Most "steel" kitchen utensils are one grade or another of stainless steel so that they don't rust.

I think the easy way of cleaning them " atleast for me " is to put a wire wheel on a bench grinder . works real good on paint and rust, if there caked with grease i'll hit em with some brake cleaner the go to the wirewheel. 9 times outta 10 they come out loking brand new b4 i go to paint them I'll put them in a jar of mineral spirits for a few minutes and slosh them around and wipe them off and there ready to go.

This is the method that I use as well! It is time consuming (but less so than using a vise and a wire wheel on a drill or grinder), but it works really well! The only difference is that I use Naphtha instead of mineral spirits for my final rinse, but I think that's just a matter of personal preference. :smile1:

I played with a screen & pan tonight trying 2 lug bolts. I got a LOT of bubbles off the screen & almost nothing off the parts. Then I wrapped a pc of 12 ga solid wire around them both & hung them... worked much better. I was also thinking of taking a piece of brake line and rubber-banding them on, but I ran out of playtime.

My brother was trying to get made in USA bolts for the rear end of his Case. Called local fastener supply house. They said they buy stuff from all over and it was impossible to say where they came from. (I thought it had to be on the boxes.) He got his bolts from Caterpillar and they said they only carry Made In USA nuts and bolts. He paid about 40% more but when they go inside and you don't want them to screw up you better not by that Chinese crap. Just my .02 worth.

This was a job that I delegated to my son when he was very young and wanted to "help Dad work." Let him blast the heads, brush the threads, and run the thread chaser down with a "real wrench!" He had fun, learned a lot of basic skills. Now he's grown and off at school, and I live alone so have no more " child labor " to exploit, so if you guys can perfect some easy method, please pass it along!

This was a job that I delegated to my son when he was very young and wanted to "help Dad work." Let him blast the heads, brush the threads, and run the thread chaser down with a "real wrench!" He had fun, learned a lot of basic skills. Now he's grown and off at school, and I live alone so have no more " child labor " to exploit, so if you guys can perfect some easy method, please pass it along!

I've been known to soak rusty stuff in muriatic acid for an hour or so, eats the rust right off! Be very careful, WILL CAUSE BURNS ON SKIN! NASTY VAPORS,USE OUTDOORS! Iron or steel will come out looking like new just rinse with water.

I've been known to soak rusty stuff in muriatic acid for an hour or so, eats the rust right off!

I use that also, but I've only ever used it to remove the Zinc off of galvanized stuff that I plan on welding. So you say it takes rust off .....hmmmmmm!

While I was working on the 1978 Bolens G11XL, I came across several bolts, all of them 1/4-20, that had a raised lip around the O.D. of the hex portion and an "MF" in raised letters in the recessed well on top. I thought it was maybe a brand or manufacturer for the bolts themselves. Maybe when I get it dug out, I'll shoot some pics for you guys to take a look at.

I,m using crushed glass in a sand blasting cabinet with a vacume cleaner gets hard to see. Bought some cheap plastic clamps to hold them works fine still a slow job but they do look good have not got around to painting any yet !

I've been known to soak rusty stuff in muriatic acid for an hour or so, eats the rust right off! Be very careful, WILL CAUSE BURNS ON SKIN! NASTY VAPORS,USE OUTDOORS! Iron or steel will come out looking like new just rinse with water.

Was thinking about doing that myself...have some acid left over from cleaning up old gas tanks.